Van Halen notes: Blasts from the past

Hey, if the Eagles can get back together, I guess it’s possible for David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen to share the same stage night after night after night after 23 years of dissing each other. After digging through the Express-News archives for Van Halen-related material this week, I found enough pointed comments to make me think hell really did freeze over when the reunion tour was announced last August. How did any of these guys ever get along? A sampling:

From a June 2006 interview with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony in advance of Hagar and the Waboritas’ visit to the Verizon with former bassist Anthony as special guest:

Anthony: “The fact of the matter is when we (Van Halen) did the tour in 2004, Ed didn’t want me there because of my relationship with Sammy. I sucked it up and took less pay, because I thought if it was the last time Van Halen went out and toured, and I wasn’t part of it, I would really be upset. To sign on to do the tour, they made me relinquish any rights and claims I had to the (Van Halen) name, the logo, whatever. At this point, there is basically nothing going on as far as Van Halen goes. It’s tough to say that, but I’m not going to sugarcoat anything any more.”

Hagar: “My band has pinned this Van Halen stuff even more than Van Halen did on the last tour. On the last Van Halen tour, sometimes I didn’t even recognize the friggin’ songs. It was funny because a lot of the reviews were accusing us of trying to rewrite the songs. Believe me, it wasn’t intentional.”

“I wish (drummer) Alex (Van Halen) was my brother and I’ve said that to him many times. Ed and Al are tight as hell and you ain’t going to get between them. When you’re with them, you’re an outsider so Mike and I were always buddying up when Ed and Al would start speaking (their native) Dutch and smoking cigarettes and getting in fistfights (laughs).”

From a September 2004 interview with Hagar before Van Halen’s SBC Center show:

“The whole of being older is, you know, time going by, water going under the bridge, whatever it is, you kind of forget even like what happened or why you were mad to begin with and what all you said. All that stuff goes out the window when you see a person that you truly do have a deep relationship with them … We decided rather than go to therapy like some of these other bands and dig around in the dirt, you know, we said, ‘No, no. Here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to pretend like it never happened. We’re going to like rise above it,’ and it’s really what we did … We are four real musicians that play music with or without each other, you know, for the rest of our lives. And it just doesn’t feel like it’s a reunion.”

From interviews previewing the Roth/Hagar show in July 2002 at the Verizon:

Roth, on the personal and professional woes of Eddie van Halen: “Well, the great Eddie Van Halen is wandering around in the fog. And as an old Jamaican sailor once told me, ‘Hey, if you’re sailing around in the fog, then you don’t need a compass.’ Happy sailing, captain.”

Roth, on Hagar: “Two characters like Roth and Hagar? I don’t know, it’s almost biblical. If we can get along, then anything’s possible … We have two very different approaches to rock ‘n’ roll, my friend. Sam reiterates what’s going on at Cabo Wabo and his club scene, and he has fans and guests on stage and so forth. Our band is clearly about precision and fury. It’s not a demonstration. It’s competitive off the map. This band’s been going at it since ‘Jingle Bells.’ ”

Hagar, on Roth: “I didn’t trust him. But after sitting in a room with him, I knew the guy was serious. It wasn’t simple. We had some (expletive) to work out. But we worked it out … I was saying, ‘Hey, (expletive) that guy. I can go do it.’ And I still have that same attitude. Now, I’m going on tour with that guy!’ And we’re going to go at it. It’s healthy.”

Hagar on Roth getting tossed in 1985: “All of a sudden they were changing singers. No one ever changes singers and gets away with it, except for AC/DC, and they had no choice. Their singer died! Well, Dave hadn’t died yet.”

Hagar, on Michael Anthony, his occasional guest on the tour, who was keeping his contributions low-key: “He doesn’t want to get thrown out of what he’s got left of Van Halen.”

From a 1999 Hagar interview in advance of a Sunken Garden show with the Waboritas:

On the tour and Roth: “We (Van Halen) had a great 10-year run. When Roth left, he figured the band was through. I came in and we sold millions of records, had major tours and wrote some of the great songs of the era. I know that crushed (Roth).

“You want to know something? I wanted Roth on this tour. We called his manager and he said he’d be fired if he even asked. We could have had the greatest tour of the summer, but instead he’s out with (expletive) Bad Company ’cause his manager knows (Roth’s) ego wouldn’t let him open for me. What the (hell) is that?”

On his VH replacement, Gary Cherone: “When I worked with Eddie, part of my job was to weed through all the little pieces he came up with and make a cohesive song. When Gary came in, he sang along with everything Ed handed him and they ended up with a bunch of pieces that didn’t fit together. I’m not anti-Gary, but they took a dive.”

“The last (Van Halen) album was not as exciting as the first, because we’d heard it all before. It’s like being married for so long that when you’re wife walks by naked, you just sit there watching TV.”

From a 1995 interview with Alex Van Halen before the band’s 1995 Arena show:

“Eddie and I playing together has added a sense of stability to the band. Eddie and I have been playing together in bands since we were 6 years old. And we’ve known Mikey (Anthony) for 17 years.”